How to Read “Eating the first harvest extends your life by seventy-five days”
Hatsumono shichijugo-nichi
Meaning of “Eating the first harvest extends your life by seventy-five days”
“Eating the first harvest extends your life by seventy-five days” is a lucky saying about seasonal first foods.
When you eat the first food of the season, it supposedly adds seventy-five days to your life.
People believed that eating seasonal ingredients like spring bamboo shoots, early summer bonito, or autumn matsutake mushrooms would bring health and longevity.
This phrase is used when first seasonal foods become available or when offering them to someone.
You might say, “This is this year’s first bonito. They say eating the first harvest extends your life by seventy-five days.”
It naturally comes up in mealtime conversations, expressing gratitude for seasonal blessings and sharing the joy of eating.
Even today, this saying lives on in the culture of valuing seasonal ingredients.
While there’s no scientific proof, it conveys the importance of enjoying fresh seasonal foods and the richness of savoring meals.
Origin and Etymology
Clear written records about the origin of “Eating the first harvest extends your life by seventy-five days” are limited.
However, this belief was already widespread among common people during the Edo period.
Behind this saying lies the Japanese sense of seasons and special feelings toward “first harvests.”
First harvests refer to vegetables, fruits, or fish caught for the first time that year or season.
Japan has long had a culture of sensing seasonal changes through food.
People believed that first harvests contained special life energy.
The specific number seventy-five has various theories behind it.
One theory suggests influence from the yin-yang and five elements philosophy.
Another view is that stating a concrete number made the claim more realistic and persuasive than simply saying “you’ll live longer.”
For Edo period people, eating first harvests wasn’t just a meal.
It was a ritual act of thanking nature for seasonal blessings and absorbing natural life force.
Edo residents especially loved first harvests. Records show that “first bonito” traded at high prices.
Within this cultural background, the joy of eating first harvests combined with wishes for health and longevity.
This is likely how this belief was born.
Interesting Facts
During the Edo period, first bonito was especially prized.
A saying emerged: “Pawn your wife to buy first bonito.”
Eating first harvests wasn’t just about food. It was proof of being a stylish Edo resident.
People competed to buy them even at high prices.
The number seventy-five roughly equals the time it takes for one season to transition to the next.
In other words, eating spring’s first harvest keeps you healthy until summer.
Eating summer’s first harvest keeps you healthy until autumn.
This may have been wisdom connected to seasonal cycles.
Usage Examples
- This year’s first bamboo shoots arrived, so eating the first harvest extends your life by seventy-five days
- I found first-harvest saury at the market and bought it thinking about how eating the first harvest extends your life by seventy-five days
Universal Wisdom
The proverb “Eating the first harvest extends your life by seventy-five days” contains universal wisdom about human “longing for special things” and “the power to give form to hope.”
Everyone seeks special moments within daily life.
In days that seem the same, phrases like “first this year” or “only this season” have magical power to make hearts leap.
The belief that eating first harvests extends life by seventy-five days isn’t scientific fact.
Rather, it was wisdom for people to find hope and joy in everyday life.
Looking deeper, this belief teaches the importance of “the power to believe.”
By eating first harvests and believing “this will help me live longer,” people develop positive feelings.
This can actually lead to better mental and physical health.
Modern medicine recognizes this as the placebo effect. Believing itself can influence the human body.
This saying also expresses a heart that values seasonal changes.
Humans are beings who live within nature’s cycles.
By appreciating seasonal blessings and savoring them as something special, people have felt the joy of living.
Looking forward to first harvests and feeling happiness when tasting them.
The accumulation of such small joys creates a rich life.
This reflects our ancestors’ deep understanding of human nature.
When AI Hears This
The story that first harvests extend life by seventy-five days is surprisingly sophisticated psychological manipulation from a behavioral economics perspective.
According to prospect theory, humans feel “losses” strongly but overestimate “gains.”
For example, the shock of losing 10,000 yen feels about twice as strong as the joy of gaining 10,000 yen.
However, with first harvests, the focus is on the gain of “seventy-five extra days of life” rather than any loss. This is the key point.
Even more noteworthy is the setting of a “reference point.”
Behavioral economics says humans judge things not by absolute value but by changes from a reference point.
First harvests create a clear reference point called “seasonal change.”
Though physically the same as yesterday’s ingredients, they psychologically transform into something completely different and special.
In other words, the same tomato multiplies in brain value just by adding the label “first this year.”
The sophistication of this mechanism lies in connecting the fact that seasonal ingredients have high nutritional value to the concrete number “seventy-five days” and the ultimate concern of “lifespan.”
It’s not scientific explanation but specific numbers and maximum interest.
Rather than loss aversion, it encourages action through the appeal of gain.
This is truly wisdom that understands human psychology deeply.
Lessons for Today
“Eating the first harvest extends your life by seventy-five days” teaches modern people the importance of finding special moments in daily life.
In our busy days, we tend to treat even meals as routine.
However, by noticing new seasonal ingredients and savoring the special feeling of “first this year,” daily life begins to shine.
It becomes not just a meal but rich time for feeling seasons and appreciating nature’s blessings.
This saying also teaches the value of “cherishing small joys.”
Whether you literally believe the seventy-five-day life extension doesn’t matter.
What matters is the positive feelings and eating joy that believing creates.
Having positive expectations actually leads to better mental and physical health.
Furthermore, this saying teaches “the pleasure of waiting.”
Precisely because modern times offer everything year-round, the heart that anticipates seasonal first harvests adds color to life.
Why not try living your days looking forward to next season’s first harvest?
That small anticipation will surely enrich your everyday life.
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